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The Angry Rooster

Yesterday morning I donned my riot gear before I let the chickens out of the coop. Our rooster has been on the attack for several months now, and he's getting worse.

Methinks he's not long for this world... and frankly, I'd be happy with just the five hens.

At any rate, since the hubby was sick yesterday and he is the one who has been dealing with the chickens, the task fell to me to let them out for the day.

I won't lie. I was nervous. I had been attacked by the rooster several months ago, and several kicks to him did not deter him one iota. He had it in for me!

So I prepared for the mass exit from the henhouse by building a wall between me and the hatch door. I built my wall with a large piece of cardboard, some 2x4s, and some particleboard. Then, to lengthen my wall a tad, I stacked two 5-gallon buckets next to the cardboard.

For defense, I took the herding stick we use for the guineas, a very long 2x2 piece of wood, maybe 10 - 12 ft long?

One more thing... I decided I needed a shield, like the knights of old. I found the perfect shield - the removable top from our chick brooder - it's square, has handles on two sides, and a tight wire mesh screen.

My shield was one-half of the top you see here, with a 2nd handle added.

(The top of the brooder has been modified since this photo was taken.)

PERFECT. I was ready for battle with the roo.

I got myself in position, took a very deep breath, and opened the hatch door. Before I could get it lifted and latched to the building, I quickly put my wire-mesh shield in front of the opening, to slow down the chickens' exodus from the coop.

I'm not sure what happened in the coop, but I heard claws screeching to a dead-stop on the concrete floor, a very loud raucous clucking from everyone, and feathers a-flapping.... I bent down to peer into the coop, and did not see one chicken in sight!

The sight of the wire-mesh shield in front of their door must have sent them into a panic, and instead of attacking the shield, even the rooster must have flown up onto their roost!

I clipped the hatch door to the building, and began to methodically remove my riot gear from their pen. As I exited their pen, I decided to watch and see if they would finally come out of the coop?

It was really quite funny.... a few of the hens finally peeked their heads out the door. They saw the 5-gallon buckets stacked nearby, and tilted their heads, wondering why they were there?

Finally, everyone came out.

Let's just say I had no battles with the rooster all day. And I was in and out of the coop quite a bit. Twice I retrieved eggs. For safety's sake, I took my human shield with me, and propped it in front of their hatch door, just in case the rooster would come running into the coop to attack me .... yes, he always runs into the coop whenever we go inside.

He didn't come into the coop even once yesterday when I was inside.

All of this preparation on my part may sound pretty funny to those who aren't familiar with roosters, but for those who know roosters, then you know how mean they can be when they put their mind to it!

Even my husband was amazed at how well the rooster can launch his attacks and hit you mid-air! He curls his body into a U-shape, and both his beak and his claws are hitting you at the same time. It would be stunning to get video and then play it in slo-mo.

If he continues to behave, then he gets a free pass and gets to live. Time will tell.

If he decides to attack again, he may become "Angry Rooster Soup". Jes' sayin.

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22 comments:

I've had a few angry roosters in my day...got a few scars also...My dad used to love to play games with them and let them ride his foot into the air...He looked like the karate kid with a rooster on his foot...

Now I have so many roosters and not a mean one anywhere...they are beautiful to pet when they are not attacking...

A 2x4 to the head works well...or a rubber hose swung to the head sometimes will do the job...

Geez Susan that's one mean rooster you've got there! I agree with you...he's doomed for the stew pot if he keeps this up. We've had our Romeo for 2 1/2 years now and he's just the sweetest fellow and has never once showed any aggression towards us or the hens. In fact if his little 'Chippendale dance' to get one of the girls in 'the mood' fails he just tries again but NEVER forces himself of his girls. If I had to put up with what you do...I think I'd be looking at replacing him with a young fellow. The girls will probably put him in his place and hopefully he'd learn to have some respect as he matures. This fellow you have sounds dangerous and you want to enjoy your trips to the coop...not have to don a suit of armor to collect eggs! Poor girl. You cracked me up though LOL...good luck!

I remember the angry rooster at my Grandparents farm, he used to strut around the pig pen. And I would let him get so far, and then call the pigs who would chase him away....yes, mean little girl, that's me.

Oh dear. I've battled with a mean roo for about 4 years. It's not fun. And trust me, it won't get any funner - wait, is that even a word? Either way, a young aggressive roo will usually end up being an old aggressive roo :( The only reason my Duke hasn't ended up keeping some dumplings company is because he has tackled a chicken hawk, and routinely chases them around the yard. If a roo has some redeeming qualities that justifies arming yourself before entering the chicken yard, then I say suit up! If not, well Coq Au Vin is a very pleasant meal :)

I shudder when I read rooster stories..when I was 3 or 4 we had a white rooster that would chase me and when i fell down he would spur me...I was so scared of that big rooster..I would cry and cry...well one sunny day the attack was on...he was chasing me and I was running as fast as my legs could go..screaming for my mama, when all of a sudden I hear a kaboooom!!!! white feathers were falling from the sky...mama had shot that rooster with a double barrel shot gun!!! he didn't even make it to the soup pot...he got what he deserved!!!

My Grandmother had chickens but very rarely a rooster...as she aged my son kept a couple roosters...he really like them...top rooster #1 got aggressive...when he got me through my snow pants (yes, I wear snow pants even though I'm old), Hubbs took a stick to him; end of rooster #1...when rooster #2 saw rooster #1 laying at his feet, rooster #2 suddenly decided aggression would be fun...rooster #2 joined rooster #1 on the ground...rooster #3 saw rooster #1 and #2 laying there, he attacked the carcuses and decided that was not the way to go...he was the nicest rooster for many years...Smart rooster #3!!

Sorry to find the humor in your terror, but the way that you described your gear was so funny! And even more funny is that the wire top to the brooder actually freaked him out! LOL You go girl! Chicken Cordon Bleu?

Cute post Suz!! I was laughing at this although I don't think I'd be laughing if a rooster was attacking me, I'd be runnin' and screamin'! ;-)I'm sure the hubby was proud of your work in the roost. Sorry to hear he's sick, I hope he's on the mend soon!

I thought of you the other day when I was watching Celebrity Wife Swap with Neicy Nash. She had to go get eggs while watching for the rooster which likes to attack. I immediately thought of you and this post! :)

We had a big mean rooster too. He was white and his name was Patrick. I once got in a kicking fight/standoff with him where he kept coming after me. I left the coop bleeding but he was fine. They can be scary!